Regulating device for impact water-wheels.



No. ssam.

N. REGULATING DEVICE FDR IMPACT WATER WHEELS.

Patented Feb. 26, |90I. LAMB.

(Application med Apr. 2. 1900.,

2 Sheets-Sheet l,

(No Model.)

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No. 668,80I. Pafqnt'ed Feb. 26, I90I. N. LAMB.

REGULATING DEVICE FOB IMPACT WATER WHEELS.

(Application led Apr. 2, 19D0.\ (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NTTED STATES PATENT Fries.

NEWTON LAMB, OF YREKA, CALIFORNIA.`

REGULATING DEVICE FOR IIVIPACT WATER-WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 668,801, dated February26, 1901.

Application filed April 2, 1900. Serial No. 11,131. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern;

Be it known that I, NEW-TON LAMB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Yreka, county of Siskiyou, State of California, haveinvented an Improvement in Regulating Devices for Im pact Water-Wheels;and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in water Wheels or motors andgovernors.

It consists of a plurality of nozzles through which Water is directedagainst peripheral projections upon the Wheel by which the latter ispropelled, with a reverse nozzle through which water may be directed toretard the wheel, means for supplyingr water to these nozzles,valvesWithin these nozzles,and means for operating the valves of thedriving-nozzles and the valve of the retarding-nozzle reciprocally, sothat whatever amount of water is shut 0d from a driving-nozzle isdischarged by the reverse or compensation nozzle, allv with and for thepurpose of varying the speed and power of the wheel proportionately toits load.

My invention also comprises details of construction, which will be morefully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a vertical section through the wheel at right angles to theshaft. Fig. 2 is a section of a portion of the wheel, taken at rightangles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through one of thevalves. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the reservoir and governorconnections.

In the operation of Wheels, especially that class known as momentum-wheels, in which the water is delivered into the wheel-buckets under ahigh head or pressure, it is desirable to regulate the speed of thewheel and make it commensurate with the load to be carried.

In order to effect this, I have shown a systemv of nozzles so arrangedas to discharge water upon the wheel at various points around itsperiphery, and one or more of these nozzles is provided with a valveactuated by the governor, while on the opposite side is a nozzle todirect water against the advancing side ot' the wheel, which I callabrake-nozzle. This nozzle is also provided With'a valve which isoperated in unison with the valve controlling the driving-nozzle, sothat as the supply through the driving-nozzle is decreased the supplythrough the brake-nozzle is increased, and by this means the movement ofthe'water in the pipe will never be choked or disturbed, while theregulation will be more prompt than -if deiecting-nozzles are used andwith a less waste of water, because instead of being thrown away thewater will rbe projected against the opposite side of the wheel to actdirectly in checking its movement.

The proportion of drivingnozzles to the brake-nozzle may be varied tosuit conditions. As at present shown I 'have illustrated my invention asprovided with five driving-nozzles and one brake-nozzle, which willprovide for a variation of nearly fifty per cent. of the load, and thatis more than is usually required.

In the drawings, A is a platform or frame upon which the wheel iscarried. It may be in the form of a box-frame, so that the Wheeljournalswill stand low upon it and the wheel may project partially down into thebox, and in this construction the governor bearings and supports willalso be low and the whole apparatus will be more steady and compact.

2 is the wheel, mounted upon a journalshaft 3, which turns insuitably-supported boxes at opposite sides, and there is an openingthrough the frame below the wheel for the free escape of water.Encircling the wheel and separated therefrom a sufcient distance topermit of the introduction of the nozzle is the reservoir or supply-pipe4. Into this reservoir are openings 5, (there may be one or more,) bywhich the desired head or pressure is admitted. The object of using thereservoir Ll (which per se is not claimed as new) to which to connectthe nozzles is that it offers a ready means of water connection betweenthese various nozzles. By using a number of these passages the reservoirmay be made smaller in size,and the waterentering through so many pointswill have a shorter distance to travel to the wheel-nozzles 6, throughwhich wat-er is discharged into the buckets 7 of the wheel.

I do not limit myself to any especial construction of wheel or thebuckets therefor, as there are many varieties of these wheels, any ofwhich can be used in conjunction with my invention.

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The nozzles 6 pass through the inner rim of the reservoir Lt, whichsurrounds the wheel, as shown, and as many of these nozzles may heemployed as desired to direct water into the buckets of the wheel forthe purpose of propelling it.

8 is a nozzle opening'directly against the advancing face of the wheeland in opposition to one of the nozzles (5. I have only shown one ofthese brake-nozzles 8, because by the connection of its controllingvalvewith the controlling-valve ot' the opposingr nozzle G I cut oifasupplyfrom one ot the direct nozzles and throw a similar amount of water intothe brake-nozzle, so that the resistance to the wheel will be sufficientfor any reasonable variation of load.

The valves 9 are cylindrical in form, turning in inclosing cases 10within the reservoir 4, and the valves and casings have ports in thesides, as shown at. 11, which may be brought to coincide, so as to admitwater freely into the interior of the valves; but by turning the valveswith relation to the casing-openings these ports may be cut off orreduced in size to any desired extent, as will be hereinafter described.One end of the valve 9 opens directly into its nozzle 6 or 8, and theother end is closed, and a shaft 12 extends axially from it through astung-box 13, which forms a tight joint with relation to the shaft. Theouter end of the shaft has a center against which an adjustable screw 14may be caused to press, being turned, through threads in its support 15,to a proper bearing and then being locked by screws 16. This preventsthe backward thrust ot` the water causing toom uch friction on themoving parts.

17 is a bushing which is screwed or fitted in the front end of thestuffing-box 13.

The valves are turned by crank-arms 18, which are secured to the shafts12 by setscrews 19 or like securing devices, and the crank-arms areconnected with oscillating levers 2O by links 21 or othersuitableconnecting devices. In order to make these parts freely movable andsubstantially without friction, I prefer to form them with somewellknown form of ball-and-socket joint or connection, which willinclude balls 22 on the outer ends of the levers and operating betweensocketed blocks 21, of any well-known type, mounted in links 21.

In Fig. 4 the dotted lines passing around the axle and over thepulley-wheel 30 above it represent a simple and well-known arrangementby which power is transmitted by any well-known means to operate agovernor, and in practice the valves 9 are intended to be controlled bysome well-known form of governor (not shown) through a rod 25. Thus alift or depression, as the case may be, of the rod 25 operates to movethe valve of the driving-nozzle and the valve of the brakenozzlesimultaneously. In practice it should be understood that when the valveof the driving-nozzle is open that of the brake or retarding nozzle isclosed, or vice versa, so that through the action ot' the governor onthe rod 25 as the valve of the driving-nozzle is closed that of thebrake-nozzle is correspondingly opened and the same amount of water isbeing discharged continuously from the reservoir, though with varyingeffects of power. By the simultaneous movement of the valves, as shown,compensation is made for the immense pressure that would otherwisesuddenly be put upon the mains and reservoirs it' the valves workedindependently, though the time between the shut-off of one and theturning on of the other occupied but the fraction of asecond. Thisfeature ofcompensation and of controllable distribution of pressure,water, and power is the essence of my invention.

When the wheel is ruiming, water is admitted through all of thedriving-nozzles into the buckets of the wheel and the wheel is rotatedby the impact of this water. The water escapes at each side of thewheel, which is open for that purpose in the usual manner of this classof wheels. When the wheel reaches the speed at which it is designed torun, the governor will commence to close the inlet-valve which controlsone of the supplypassages and, acting through the connectinglevers, willcorrespondingly open the brakevalve, thus allowing water to enterthrough this valve to the nozzle 8, which, acting directly against theadvancing wheel, retards its motion. As soon as the motion of the wheelis reduced or begins to fall below the desired rate of speed theposition of the valves will be again changed by the action of thegovernor, and thus the speed can be maintained.

It will be manifest that other forms of valves may be used and thatvarious connections between the governor and the valves may be employedwithout altering the character and operation of the device, which isalso applicable to any class of pressure-wheels.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a water-wheel, a nozzle through which water isdelivered to propel the wheel, a second nozzle directed oppositelythereto, means for connecting said nozzles, valves for controlling thesupply to said nozzles and controlling means connected with each valveand operating the valves to simultaneously open one and close the other.

2. The combination with a water-wheel, of a nozzle at one side of thewheel and through which water is supplied to propel the wheel, a secondnozzle at the opposite side of the wheel to retard its motion, means forconnecting the nozzles, valves within said nozzles, and means connectedwith each valve to simultaneously open one valve and close the other.

3. The combination with a water-wheelhaving peripheral buckets, of anozzle through which water is projected to propel the wheel,

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a second nozzle opposing the first-named one and adapted to retard themovement of the wheel, means for connecting the nozzles, valves forcontrolling the admission of water tothe nozzles,and means includingfulcrumed levers and link connections between the valves and arranged tosimultaneously open one Valve and close the other.

4. In a motor the combination of a journalshaft and a Water-wheel havingperipherallyattached buckets, an encircling reservoir, or supply-pipe, anozzle attached thereto so as to discharge against these buckets andpropel the wheel, and another nozzle in this reservoir so placed as todischarge oppositely against the Wheel and retard its motion, valveswithin these nozzles, connections by

